The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a Stroudsburg man was arrested by federal agents yesterday on drug trafficking charges brought by a federal grand jury.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, the grand jury returned a Criminal Indictment last week alleging that Eddie Pace, age 40, conspired with others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin and more than 500 grams of cocaine in Monroe County and elsewhere. The indictment also charges Pace with distributing heroin on November 6, 2014 and Jan. 14, 2015.
The charges stem from an investigation by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, Monroe County Detectives, the Monroe County Drug Task Force, and the Stroud Area Regional Police Department.
Pace was arraigned on the charges today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick in Scranton. He was ordered to be detained in prison pending trial in the case.
If he is convicted of the charges, Pace faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a potential maximum sentence of life in prison for the conspiracy charge, and a potential maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for each distribution charge.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
